STEELE CREEK NEWS
Noise Exposure Map
Update Hearings Set for October 14 and 15
(October
6, 2015) The
Charlotte Douglas International Airport is updating its
1996 Noise Exposure Map (NEM) for 2015 and creating a 2020 map for the
future due to aircraft fleet changes and recent changes in runway
operations.
The map identifies areas that have a day-night average sound
level (DNL) of 65 decibels or more, See
Airport Noise Exposure Map Update Study.
Two Public Information Meetings and Public Hearings will be
conducted to present the draft Noise Exposure Map Update and
allow an opportunity for the public to provide comments before the
NEM Update is submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
for review and official determination. Public comments at the
hearings will be recorded and submitted to the FAA as part of the
NEM Update process.
The public hearings
will be held: Wednesday, October 14 6 P.M. - 8 P.M.
Olympic High School
4301 Sandy Porter Road, Charlotte, NC 28273
Thursday, October 15 6
P.M. - 8 P.M.
Sheraton Charlotte Airport
Hotel 3315 Scott Futrell Drive, Charlotte, NC 28208
The Public Information
Meetings and Public Hearings will be held concurrently, with one
section of the meeting location dedicated to the Public Information
Meeting and one section dedicated to the Public Hearing.
The
public Information Meeting will be an open house style setting in
which study information will be available on large display boards.
Airport and noise consultants will be available to answer questions
regarding the study. The same information will be presented at both
meetings. No formal presentations are planned - stop in anytime.
At the Public Hearings, attendees will be
able to provide oral or written comments. Those wishing to make oral
comments will have the ability to voice their comments to a
transcriptionist that will be available to transcribe all comments.
A hearing officer will facilitate the process of giving oral
comments and make sure that all those who request to speak have the
opportunity to do so.
For more information, see
Airport Noise Exposure Map (NEM) Update Study and
Charlotte Douglas Airport Noise Program.
The 65 decibel level is equivalent to a normal conversation. The
map below was presented at the Public Information Meeting at Olympic
High School on December 4, 2014. It shows the area exposed to an average of 65 decibels from
the study done in 1996 in a dashed black line. The blue line shows
the area that will be exposed to 65 DNL in 2015. The noise
contour has been reduced significantly because aircraft have become
quieter. (Click
HERE or on the map below to view a PDF version of this map.
All presentation information from the December public information
meetings is available
HERE.)
The
purple line shows the 65 DNL contour projected to 2020. Although
noise from individual airplanes exceeds 65 decibels for many miles
beyond these contours, the standard is the average noise level
rather than the maximum level.
AAccording to airport and consultant staff attending the Public
Information Meeting at Olympic High School last December 4, the
maximum noise level measured at the interstection of Shopton Road
and Gable Road near Sullivan's Trace neighborhood was 83.1 decibels.
According to a noise chart avalilable
HERE, 80 decibels is equivalent to the sound of an alarm clock.
An alarm clock is loud enough to wake a sleeping person. However,
the average decibel level is much lower than that (at least below 65
decibels) because the 83.1
decibel level is averaged with the much quieter levels experienced
between airplanes.
Staff also reported a maximum noise level of 74.1 decibels
measured at a spot in the Taragate neighborhood off Sandy Porter
Road. 75 decibels is equivalent to the sound of a toilet flushing or
a vacuum cleaner.
As staff stated several times, the noise study must follow
guidelines developed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). If the
study included a map showing the loudest noise levels made by
airplanes, the contours would extend far beyond the mile and a half or
so from airport runways as shown in the study. It would seem that a sound loud enough to
wake sleeping people ocurring every two minutes or so would be
recognized as affecting quality of life in residential areas, but
according to FAA guidleines, it is not.
However, the airport is not going anywhere, and airplanes aren't
going to stop flying over Steele Creek, so noise will continue to be
a fact of life here. The update does not recommend changes to
airport operations that will reduce noise, it only identifies areas
where properties are eligible for noise abatement programs.
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Steele Creek Forum.
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